Monday, September 26, 2011

Where the Hell is Matt?

Have you heard about Matt? Maybe not? Well, Matt gets paid to travel to different parts of the world and dance with people. Sound pretty awesome, right? So basically, this is what Matt does:

If this doesn't work for you, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY

You can read about how he gets paid to do that here: About Matt

Also, watch this video on how Matt gets all those people to dance to him:


We are talking about intercultural communication and cultural values this week, and I think this is a great example of what happens when we use communication as a bridge to connecting with people (see page 145 in your textbook for more on communication as a bridge).

Questions:
Matt says on his website "Matt thinks Americans need to travel abroad more." What do you think this means?
How is Matt using communication to connect with people from other cultures?
Can you think of any other internet memes, bad dances, or other things that can help us communicate across cultures?

Also, I think it's really important to note how Matt recognized that not all cultures have equal access to the internet, and in order to incorporate these other cultural venues Matt adapted his methods. We tend to see the internet as a great equalizer, but even the internet is limited in terms of access. Matt really took on a dual perspective by not assuming that everyone would have access to his internet meme.

7 comments:

  1. Most Americans don't understand that there are other cultures in the world besides their own. We can never truly connect with other people if we don't expose ourselves to other ways of life. Matt is able to connect with all these people from around the world doing the one thing that ANYBODY can do: dance. Dancing is a form of celebration and is done when in good spirits, which is seen in the video.

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  2. It's really cool, that this is Matt's actual job. He's able to travel all over the world, and create connections from country to country. I think more Americans should travel more, because we get trapped in our bubbles and forget that there is more in the world to be experienced. Dancing is an interesting way to communicate across cultures, but another way we communicate across cultures is through sports. Soccer is a huge sport all over the world, and it bonds millions of people.

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  3. This video made me smile. It shows that many cultures can relate through other means than talking. Most, if not all, cultures love to dance and that's one thing that everyone has in common , no matter what language they speak or where they're from. I think what Matt means by his comment about Americans traveling abroad more is that Americans are very self obsessed and seem to only care about themselves and what's going on in their own little world. Traveling to different places can open people's eyes about true problems people face and give them a new perspective.

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  4. I liked that he didn't try to keep the focus on himself and all the cool things he was getting to do...he involved the people around him, encouraging awareness of the different kinds of cultures all around him!
    Dancing is a wonderful form of self-expression and I loved watching the different takes people had on the Matt Dance.

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  5. I agree that Americans need to travel more. The world is this huge, big, beautiful place, and some of us never see more than our own backyard. I loved this video. He went to all these different places and used dancing as a way to show that we're all similar despite all of our cultural differences. Dancing makes everyone happy, and smiling translates to all cultures.

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  6. Anything that crosses cultures such as music, dancing, a smile, a hug etc. can be a way to communicate with someone else. He traveled the world and was able to spark a chain reaction without even speaking to the citizens of the places he visited. At the heart of these videos and what he is doing, he has achieved true global communication.

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  7. I loved the video. It made me think about different cultures and how everyone expresses themselves in similar ways, no matter their culture. I also agree with Suzanne Peterson when she said "smiling translates to all cultures"...very true!

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